German media: EU plans refugee camps in Belarus

The EU is financing the construction of refugee camps in Belarus, according to an internal paper of the EU Commission seen by the German Tageszeitung (TAZ) newspaper. The Commission will transfer to Minsk some 7 million euros to finance the building.

According to TAZ, some “Migrants Accomodation Centers”, as the camps will be called, will be open and some of a “closed type”, meaning that the migrants will be are detained there before Belarus expels them or lets them leave voluntarily.

Each centre will have between 30 to 50 rooms and will meet “the best EU and international standards”. There will be separate sections for women, girls or families, as well as psychological and medical care, which are currently not available in Belarus.

The EU plan mentions, according to the source, three groups of migrants to be accommodated in the camps: refugees from Ukraine, Syria and those who are fleeing the “economic crisis in Russia and are seeking work in the EU”. In fact, most of all, Chechen refugees are likely to land there.

The money will come from the European Neighbourhood Program and is expected to flow in from 2017 to 2020.

The project will be handled by the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

In a comment to BelaPAN news agency on Friday, the EU representative confirmed the allocation of 7 million euros “to help Belarus in the fight against irregular migration and, among other things, to support it in the implementation of the readmission agreement”.